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16 October 2009

 

Osram’s stack-chip DRAGON doubles IR LED power

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that ThinFilm chip-in-stack technology enables its new infrared Platinum DRAGON LED to generate optical output power of nearly 1W from a drive current of 1A in a surface area of just 1mm2 (almost twice the output of the standard chips that have been used up to now), creating a high-radiance solution for automotive, industrial and consumer applications where space is limited.

The firm says that the increased output of the new LED is based on a special ThinFilm chip with not one but two p-n junctions that have been grown on top of each other. This stack technology achieves almost twice the optical output power compared to conventional IR ThinFilm chips, says Osram Opto.

“We were able to bring the infrared Stack DRAGON to market quickly thanks to our experience in developing the stack technology for our lasers,” says Harry Feltges, marketing manager for Infrared Components. “Its package is the same as the one used for the other IR DRAGON components, so existing designs can be used without modification,” he adds. The forward voltage of 2.9V at 1A enables the use of standard LED drivers that operate in this voltage range. The LED emits at a wavelength of 850nm and is a compromise between the maximum spectral sensitivity for CCD and CMOS cameras and the suppressed visibility for the human eye.

With its high optical output from a small surface area, the infrared Platinum DRAGON is suited to lighting solutions where space is an important factor, says Osram Opto.

In addition, the viewing angle and radiant intensity can be varied using standard secondary optics. The firm says that preferred applications are those that require high radiance so that small optics can be used. For example, night-vision systems, sensor-based electronic pedestrian protection systems and pre-crash sensors in vehicles can be made much more compact because fewer IR LEDs are needed to provide the same optical output. In industrial applications, stack-chip IR Platinum DRAGON LEDs can be used in illumination units for CCTV cameras or in systems for automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

Another potential application is 3D camera technology, which will be used increasingly in consumer devices such as gaming consoles and TVs for gesture recognition, says Osram Opto. The high modulation frequencies of the light source (typically 20-50MHz) required for these applications can be easily achieved with the new stack-chip IR Platinum DRAGON LED, adds the firm .

See related item:

Osram launches IR LEDs for surveillance and transport applications

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